File your tax return or face a penalty of up to R16,000 per month, says SARS

The South African Revenue Service (SARS) will embark on a nationwide awareness campaign aimed at getting taxpayers to submit outstanding returns.

The three-week campaign, which kicks off today, is primarily targeted at businesses for compliance with Corporate Income Tax (CIT), Value-Added Tax (VAT) and Pay-As-You-Earn (PAYE).

“Information on taxpayer obligations, the submission of tax returns, and consequences related to non-submission will also be shared during the campaign. SARS will also issue final demand letters to affected taxpayers,” the revenue collector said.

Although Tax Season closed on 31 October 2018, taxpayers who missed the deadline are still expected to file all outstanding tax returns. Administrative penalties may be imposed for failure to file. Provisional taxpayers have until 31 January 2018 to file their tax returns via eFiling.

“Taxpayers who do not submit their returns will be charged an administrative penalty, which can range from R250 to R16 000 per month, depending on the taxable income of the taxpayer. It is a criminal offence to not submit a return, and continuous non-compliance will lead to criminal prosecution,” said SARS.

Releasing provisional collection data earlier this month, SARS said it had received 5.7 million returns by October 31. Despite this year’s filing season being shorter, a 2.1% increase in submissions received from the previous year’s submissions had been recorded by SARS.

A total 96.1% of expected returns from individuals were submitted on time, exceeding last year’s rate of 94%. The returns expected are informed by last year’s submissions and IRP5 information from employers, excluding provisional taxpayers.